What is Gelbvieh?

The Gelbvieh breed is one of the oldest Continental cattle breeds.  They originated in southern Germany in Bavaria, in the late 18th and early 19th century.  They were first imported into the United States in 1971.

Why Gelbvieh?

Gelbvieh calves are widely recognized for excellence (explosive) in growth, feedlot efficiency, muscling, and marketability, while Gelbvieh females are known for superior milking ability, high fertility, and quiet temperament.  According to the USDA Meat Animal Research Center’s (MARC) Germ Plasm Evaluation.  Gelbvieh is the only widely used breed that excels in calving ease, milk yield, retail yield, weaning growth, and yearling growth combined.  Gelbvieh produce more pounds of weaned calf per cow exposed than any other widely used breed. 

Gelbvieh offers the same genetic benefits in a variety of phenotypic packages.  Commercial producers can select from red Gelbvieh or black, and from either polled or horned Gelbvieh genetics.   That’s one more reason Gelbvieh fit so well as the crossbreeding component on British and Brahman-based cows.

(Taken from the AGA website and used with permission)

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